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Mary Berry's brilliant hack for baking a quick Victoria Sponge cake revealed

This is a game changer...

mary berry
Chloe Best
Lifestyle Features Editor
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Mary Berry is currently on telly in BBC2's Celebrity Best Home Cook on Saturday afternoons, where stars battle it out to win the culinary contest.

MORE: 9 Bake Off worthy cakes gifted to the royal family

If anyone can make you want to cook, it's 85-year-old national treasure Mary, who really knows her stuff when it comes to making classic recipes.

Interestingly, Mary Berry once revealed that she no longer follows a traditional recipe when making a classic Victoria sponge cake. Instead, she takes a shortcut to cut the preparation time down to just five minutes. Be warned: You're going to want to try it!

WATCH: A royal wedding cake being prepared

The former Great British Bake Off star said that many people perceive baking to be more complex than it is, and you can actually whip up a tasty cake in less than an hour.

cake

The classic Victoria Sponge cake

Writing for The Telegraph, Mary said: "I no longer prepare a Victoria sandwich with the traditional creaming and folding methods, as this all-in-one method gives excellent results every time. All that creaming of butter and sugar. I never seem to have the butter soft enough. And then the tins have to be lined and everything has to be just so."

Rather than following the traditional method of creaming sugar and butter together, Mary uses baking spread, which she simply places in a large mixing bowl with sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder until it's smooth.

This all-in-one method can take as little as five minutes, and Mary encouraged budding bakers to apply a similar method to other classic cakes and biscuits too.

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mary berry cake

Celebrity cook Mary Berry

"Cakes, tea breads and biscuits can all be made quickly and easily with the minimum of fuss and trouble. There is no need to bother with fancy tins or piping bags to produce an informal, yet professional, finish to all kinds of teatime specialities," she said, adding that the most important thing was to "have fun" during your time in the kitchen.

Mary has also admitted to cutting down on sweet treats herself, as she was gaining a few pounds.

She told The Sun: "I don't know about you but it all goes on my bottom and I don't want it there. It's not having a ­second helping of something like sticky toffee pudding. It's hard. Everything in moderation, a little bit of everything and lots of veg." 

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